Shield plus Science
by Kate Scott
Summary: "You want me to work with THE Captain America? To help find a man that should not realistically still be alive?" "This is a very delicate situation, Rogers is very set on finding his long lost friend and finding out why he has been working for Hydra. I want you to follow his orders but-" "But?"
1. Chapter 1

**Not everything is according to the movies, I like the comics better and so I have changed some things in accordance with them. I also have played around with some stuff myself, as I can do that cause this is my story. I don't own agents of shield or Avengers.**

Jemma walked through the large new compound, her boots silently slapping against the floor as she moved through the windowless corridor. Coulson had said that this was shield's new base and that the team was expected to stay here for the foreseeable future. Fitz was off in one of the labs somewhere, she would need to see him soon, about the radiation disc that they had brought in last week from a mission. They would talk and get the job done, they would finish each other's sentences, gossip about the team, Fitz would even joke now…but every time she looked in his eyes she could see something broken. She saw the hurt, the anguish and the helplessness there. He would never look at her like he had used to, and that broke her heart.

Simmons shook her head, she didn't have time to dwell on the past or Fitz, she tucked her short hair back and proceeded to where May and Skye were waiting for her. The large doors swept open and revealed the two said agents currently wrestling on the floor. Simmons smiled and made the effort to clear her throat as Sky glanced up from her awkward position trapped under May's arm.

"She is here can you get off me now?" She seemed to be wriggling under the oppressive strength that was May.

"You've gotten sloppy you could usually get out of this hold easily."

"I get it I need to train more, I've been slack. If I could use my powers on you though you would be smashed into that wall right now," Skye gasped for breath as May let go of the struggling girl to nod at the staring biochemist. She then looked back down at her loudmouthed pupil.

"You can't always rely on your powers." She turned again to Jemma, "The director wants to see us all, it's something important." Skye leapt off the ground with excitement.

"A mission?"

"I don't know he just said to get the two of you before coming to his office." Skye snorted.

"What are we, Charlie's angels? Ooh or should we be called Coulson's angels?" Jemma couldn't help but giggle as she watched May glare at the bubbly hacker now slash super powered agent. May soon got Skye to get changed and to lead them both down stairs to a hidden away office. Once inside Jemma knew it was something big as not only was Coulson sitting at his desk waiting but agent Hill was standing behind him with her ever present super serious face.

"Hey AC, what's the deal?" Skye said straight to the point plonking down on a chair seemingly unperturbed by the two very serious authority figures behind the desk. Jemma shifted uneasily from foot to foot as the man himself seemed to stare directly at her. The face he held was the exact same one he had just before he sent her off to infiltrate Hydra.

"The 'deal' agent Skye is that we have asked you three here for something very special, particularly you agent Simmons." It was Hill who spoke out. "What we are about to talk about is highly classified and should not leave this room. Am I understood?" The three women nodded in unison.

"We have another shield base currently in Canada and we are sending all three of you there for different reasons." Coulson had finally spoken and he looked strained as he did so. "Agent May will be going over to keep an eye on you two as well as to look into a couple of things for me, she has already been briefed for this." Simmons looked over at the stoic woman; there were no traces of surprise…or of any emotion of any sort really on her face. Of course she knew what Coulson wanted to see her about, May always knew.

"Skye you will be going over for an assessment, they will be looking at your powers and seeing how well you can work on a team. There is a leader and friend of mine there who wishes to see what you can do and decide if you are suitable for a very special team…" Coulsen seemed to tense up as he debated whether to actually use the word. It turned out he didn't need to.

"Oh my goodness! No. Freaking. Way!" Skye immediately sat up wide eyed and looked at the director as if he had gone crazy. "I am going to be an avenger? Like THE Avengers?"

"No you are being assessed as to whether you may be considered an asset." Hill said sternly. Sky apparently had not heard her as she leapt up from her seat and seemed to be on the cusp of a happy dance. A glare from May made her reconsider and settle for a giant smile as she bounced on her heals.

"Best reason to be called into your office ever AC! I promise to not forget the little people and always remember the friends who got me where I am. Hey Simmons if your nice I might introduce you to some of them, I can do that right? Who do you want to meet? Hawkeye? the Hulk? Ironman? Captain America? I personally can't wait to meet Thor, he has the body of a god!" Skye looked like she could keep rambling but Coulsen quickly cut her off.

"Agent Hill is right it is only an assessment and I am sorry to inform you that the team has changed dramatically."Simmons looked up.

"What do you mean sir?" Jemma said quietly. Coulson seemed to tense at her voice and looked sadly at Jemma.

"The Hulk has taken off somewhere, there is no trace of him. Ironman has left for a…quieter life. Thor has returned to Asguard-" Skye visibly slumped. "and Hawkeye has retired."

"Well who are the Avengers now then?" Skye seemed considerably less excited than before. Maria sighed in exasperation.

"This is not information that needs to be discussed right now. You will only need to know who will be taking your assessment and that is agent Natasha Romanoff. If and only if she thinks you are suitable will you need to know exactly who you are working with." As exciting as this all was Simmons still felt confused as to why she was there. Surely whatever job she had would pale in comparison to Skye trying out for the Avengers, or what's left of them.

"Why is Simmons coming?" Jemma looked over in shock at May who seemed to be rather uncomfortable, apparently she was not informed of Simmons' role and was thinking the exact same thing as Jemma herself; why was she coming? Coulson looked at all three of them before landing sadly again on Jemma.

"I will be briefing agent Simmons as soon as we have finished here, what is important now is making sure Skye and you are ready for what is to come." Simmons immediately flinched, what would she have to do? Why was Coulson looking at her apprehensively?

"Hold on back up, agent Romanoff, as in the black widow? The scary lady with red hair will be assessing me? She is terrifying! I would rather spend a week sharing a room with May than go near that psycho. I hear she can kill a person just by glaring at them!" Skye seemed to have done a 180 on this whole idea as she stared incredulously at both Hill and Coulson.

"That's physically impossible" May said sternly to Skye.

"Well you're sure giving it your best shot" Skye pointed at May's eyes.

"Enough! Skye there is a file in your room with more details about what you will be doing. Both you and May should go pack your bags; all three of you leave tomorrow." Skye was dragged out by May as she tried to question Coulson further but was cut off by the shutting of the automatic doors.

Suddenly Simmons was on her own, in a room, with the two highest members of shield staring at her. "Well Skye seems…exhilarated." Simmons felt a little better as Coulson chuckled quietly at her attempt at breaking the ice. Hill however continued to stare at the small biochemist without a hint of emotion, Jemma felt her nerves resurfacing.

"Now Jemma, I will not lie I am not entirely comfortable with the assignment that I am giving you, but I truly believe you are the best for the job." Simmons sat down in one of the chairs facing the two. She felt her heart speed up, Coulson only used her first name when he was sorry for something.

"What do I need to do sir?" Coulson seemed to hesitate before sending a pointed look at Maria. The senior agent sighed before taking her leave but not before giving her superior one last meaningful glance and a nod toward Jemma. As soon as the doors swished closed Jemma turned wide eyed to the director, she played with the lanyard hanging around her neck nervously. The older agent cleared his throat and sat straighter.

"You are aware of Steve Rogers aren't you?" Jemma looked confused at the man in front of her. Of course she had heard of the super soldier, the science used to create the serum that ran through his body was utterly fascinating. Oh how she would love to study a blood sample of his. Not to mention how long he was frozen in ice, that should have been physically impossible to survive and she would love to know how exactly his body was able to be revived. Of course she also knew that he was a great hero, a man of much strength and integrity who has helped save the world not just back in his time but recently with the avengers.

"Yes I know of him."

Coulson rubbed his forehead. "When Hydra came out of hiding from within Shield, well they sent someone after Rogers, someone from his past." The older agent handed her a tablet with a picture of a man being displayed. He was frozen in a fighting stance in front of a burning car, his brown matted hair hung limply on the sides of his face, his eyes held deep black rings under them and his body was fully covered in a black combat suit. The thing that made Jemma gasp though was the metal arm attached to him that was bright silver contrasting brightly with his dark figure. Her perceptive eyes zoned in on the red star on the shoulder.

"His name was James Barnes and he was enlisted in world war2 and was reported dead in 1945, the same time Steve Rogers was." Jemma looked at him perplexed.

"That's impossible there is no way he could-"

"We thought the same about Captain Rogers too remember."

"True, but still how was he able to live till-how do we know it's even him?"

"We don't know, I am taking Steve's word on this, he swears it's him. We don't know how he was able to survive, if it really is him; this is where you come in." Coulson seemed to find organizing his pens to be very important as he talked. "I was a huge fan of the Captain's, well still am. He not long ago found out I was still alive...he didn't take it well." Simmons looked at the senior agent in sympathy, she knew how hard his 'death' and consequent secret was on him. She didn't know all the details but May had briefly informed her of the turmoil he had been through.

"It took a while but he seemed to get over it. I got a message from him not long ago, he needs help. He wishes to find Mr Barnes, he was a...good friend of the captain's. He wanted me to send someone, someone I thought he could trust and who could assist him in not only finding him but in being able to help him..." Simmons looked at the director.

"Me?"

"Well yes, you are a doctor as well as a fully trained field agent now. You have dealt with robotic limbs before as well as having one of the most approachable personalities of any of my agents. You have been inside Hydra yourself and I know for a fact that you are extremely trustworthy." As flattering as Coulson's words were Simmons felt her insides knot.

"What about Fitz?" Coulson sighed as if expecting the question.

"Fitz is needed here, I can assure you that this assignment is not mandatory. If you wish to stay here in the labs with Fitz I will find someone else. I would actually prefer to have you here close by, but I said I would ask the person I thought was best for the job and that is what I am doing. It is up to you Jemma what you decide to do." The biochemist looked back down at the glowing screen and at the tortured look of the man holding the gun.

"You want me to work with THE Captain America? To help find a man that should not realistically still be alive?"

"This is a very delicate situation, Rogers is very set on finding his long lost friend and finding out why he has been working for Hydra. I want you to follow his orders but-"

"But?"

"Well if it isn't really Mr Barnes, or he can't be helped and he poses too much of a threat...well the Captain may not be in the best state of mind right now, this whole thing has brought back painful memories. Another reason I want to send you is because I think you could also be of help to him."

In the training room every time he hit the punching bag he saw more images flash in his mind.

One hit, _he saw the boys eyes crinkle as he laughed at a joke told by one of the other troops._

A second hit, _he saw him take out a Nazi soldier who had snuck up on him with a well placed kick._

A third hit, _he saw the boy run up the stairs ahead of him toward the base Baron Zemo had infiltrated._

A fourth harder hit, _he saw him climbing on top of the experimental drone plane and opening a panel._

A fifth hard punch that made the bag swing slightly _, he saw the clouds whizzing past and the look of horror on the boys face as he realized he could not defuse it in time._

Steve hit the bag so hard it came swinging off its hinges and flew straight into the opposite wall. He took a deep breath before slumping down on a bench and wiping his face with a towel. Behind his closed eye lids all he could see was the dark figure with the metal arm and the dark rings under his eyes. He knew it was Bucky, he just knew it was him. He didn't know how he was alive or why he was working for Hydra, he did know however that he had saved him and that it really was his old friend. Steve heard footsteps and stood up knowing exactly whose steps where so sure and confident. The doors opened to reveal Natasha with a stern look and a file in her hand.

"What did that punching bag ever do to you?" She glanced over at the ruined bag smashed against the wall.

"What you got there?" Steve ignored her jab and looked pointedly at the file.

"I just heard back from the Coulson ghost, our possible new recruit is coming." Steve looked expectantly at Natasha. "Don't worry he is sending your little request as well, some doctor named Jemma Simmons. She is a field agent as well so don't freak out, apparently the old man didn't want to let her go but he has given her up and she is coming along with Skye. I brought her file for you to read." The red head passed the thick folder over to the captain as he immediately began to flick through.

"Thanks Natasha."

"You really think she will be able to help him?"

"I don't know...I hope so."


	2. Chapter 2

"Well it looks like you have everything under control over there; alert me if anything changes though."

"Will do Cap." Steve watched as Rhodes face faded from the screen, War Machine was currently on a mission with Scarlet Witch off in Iraq and he just heard that Vision was currently on patrol with Falcon.

Steve walked back to the main compound area, myriads of agents bustled about everywhere, some looked up to stare at him but most kept about their business now used to seeing the oldest avenger wandering the halls. The Captain made his way to the hanger; Natasha had just informed him that Coulson's guys had arrived.

He strolled between the large aircrafts that lined the hanger before coming to a stop in front of a group of women who were talking to the well known redhead herself.

"Ah here he is, Captain, this is agent Skye." Natasha gestured to the bubbly brunette who was bouncing on her heels. Steve held out his hand, the brown haired woman seemed to be looking at him with stars in her eyes.

"Its an honour to meet you Captain America!" Steve smiled as the young woman shook his hand excitedly, he still wasn't used to people not calling him by his name but she seemed so excited he couldn't help but like her.

"A pleasure to meet you Miss." The girl seemed to almost squeal but a well placed elbow from the woman beside her stopped her.

"Agent May" said the woman, she bowed her head slightly before straightening. Steve thought she looked exceptionally serious, kinda like an older version of Natasha. She held herself with such strict discipline as if ready to pounce at any given moment at anything that posed a threat. Steve returned the nod before moving his eyes over to the last person standing there. He knew instantly who she was.

"You must be Dr Jemma Simmons." Steve held out his hand and was pleasantly surprised when she gave him a stunning warm smile and went to shake it firmly.

"Yes I am, it is lovely to meet you Mr Rogers." She looked slightly nervous but equally happy and cheerful, the Captain smiled at the very young Doctor as she tried to stand taller next to the other three women.

"Now I was just about to have them directed to their quarters and then have Skye meet me in the training room for a briefing. Agent Simmons once you are unpacked I suggest you meet up with the Captain and he can go over why you're here and organise your next course of action." Steve didn't miss the two curious glances the other two women gave the doctor. Apparently Coulson had been very serious when he said he would pick someone trustworthy who would keep her mission confidential. For that Steve was glad, he wanted as little people to know as possible about Bucky and this agent seemed firm in her resolve not to tell her teammates.

"Yes that would be fine." Steve gave the English woman an encouraging smile.

* * *

Jemma was soon shown to her room before being led again by a very serious looking agent towards where she assumed she would be meeting the legendary avenger. She was led to a small door before the said agent gestured towards it before swiftly marching off.

"Thank you" Jemma said quietly in the direction the agent had disappeared off in to. She turned back to the door while taking a deep breath. She picked up her Lanyard and swiped it over the control panel. Her name appeared before the door slid open, inside was a large room, it held a lot of training equipment as well as large bookshelves lining some of the walls. There was one big screen suspended over a round table. Captain Rogers was currently bent over a large map spread out on a table, she was happy to see him in normal clothes as she was only dressed in a tasteful cardigan and jeans. The said man looked up at her entrance and smiled.

"Please come in Dr Simmons." The biochemist found herself shuffling over toward the table to glance at the large map.

"Russia"

"I gather Coulson filled you in on why you're here?"

Jemma looked up at the focused man in front of her, he no longer looked like the easy going freedom fighter that he was on the posters in Coulson's office. No, now he looked like a pained man, a man who had a sole goal in mind and who would do anything to reach it. Something about the angry look in his eyes scared her.

"Yes I was briefed…I just want you to know that I will do whatever I can to help you find your friend. This all must be very hard on you." Steve looked up at her with gratitude but slight suspicion.

"Thank you, I am trusting in your abilities Dr Simmons. I am not going to lie, this will be a very difficult mission and there is not much of an extraction team, only Natasha, my friend Sam and of course Coulson know about this. If you want to back out I will understand, but you need to do it now." Jemma gulped.

"I will do whatever I can." Steve nodded that he understood before gesturing to the map.

"Yes I had heard rumours of a project from back just after world war 2. There was a practice going on similar to that of the super soldier program. They were training young men and women to be skilled soldiers and assassins, they were given drugs to try and enhance their bodies and minds. They tried to replicate the drug that was used to…well to make me." Jemma stayed silent although she had a million questions about the serum and how it had affected him, but she kept silent.

"The people who were funding it were actually members of the Soviet Union; they were trying to use their subjects to assassinate people that the government wanted out of the way. The program was shut down for a time…however."

"What?"

The Captain pushed an old newspaper in front of Jemma. The heading read 'NATO General James Keller killed in his own home' and a picture of a well dressed man giving a speech was displayed on the cover.

"That's from 1955 in Berlin, an investigation took place but the authorities couldn't find anything." Steve pushed over more newspaper clippings as well as a few police reports from different times and places over the course of time between the end of world war two and the end of the cold war. Jemma looked at all the information taking it all in, she soon found the pattern.

"No investigations found anything and all the assassinations were of people going against the Russian government. You think it was Mr Barnes?"

Steve looked slightly startled at the young woman. He had been expecting her to just call him Winter Soldier, but the fact that she had used his name and so respectfully made his chest tighten. It meant she at least pretended to believe that it was Bucky and that she did so with as much respect for him as she would give anyone. He smiled; he was beginning to like this Dr Simmons, even if her English accent reminded him painfully of Peggy. He shook his head, he would not get too comfortable with this woman though. Even if he trusted Coulson, if he had learnt anything from his time with the Avengers and Shield it was that trust is something you should really earn, not everyone is as reliable as you think.

"Well even if the program was shut down it doesn't mean that they didn't take a promising subject to use for their own gains. It wouldn't be the first time a government has used someone for their own benefit." Jemma thought she heard a hint of personal hurt in his voice but decided not to comment.

"Yes that does make a lot of sense. It still doesn't explain though how he was able to survive or to have lived so long and hardly age. How did he end up working for Hydra? Plus I believe to be such a good friend of yours he must have been a good man, why would he do all this, why kill all those people, why come after you?"

"I know." Steve felt his head drop, it had to be Bucky, but there were just so many questions. He felt the images begin to flash behind his eyes again and felt the tremendous need to hit something.

"Well I suppose we will have to go find answers; there must logically be a way to be able to reach the man you once knew. Do you think we will get some answers in Russia? Mr Rogers?" Said man looked up as his violent urge dissipated to see Dr Simmons standing over the table and rifling through the pages while glancing up at him then down at the map. He felt that prickle of hope in his stomach and he straightened up and smiled.

"How good is your Russian?"

 **Please review, it encourages me to keep writing.**

 **Sorry it is a slightly shorter chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Steve watched as Skye hit the punching bag again and again, she was strong and well trained. She turned and kicked the bag making it swing slightly. Steve was impressed from his position in the viewing room. Of course as he watched Natasha walk over to her with a stern face he knew that it had not been good enough for the deadly spy.

Steve chuckled as Skye cowered under the Black Widow's harsh instructions before promptly sticking her tongue out at her the second Natasha had turned around. Skye had been undergoing many tests, mostly to do with her computer hacking and her hand to hand combat skills. Steve knew that it was only a matter of time before Natasha would want to see her powers in action though.

"Well if you ask me it would be great just to have a good looking girl on the team who probably won't kill you in your sleep."

Steve turned to see his good friend Sam walk in covered in sweat from no doubt another extensive workout.

"What, Wanda too scary for you?"

"Dude every time she looks at me I am sure she is imagining another way to kill me. The girl's Dad is Magneto, remember the crazy mutant out to destroy all humans. Plus she spends all her time out with the tin can. Also don't even get me started on how terrifying Natasha can be." The Captain looked over at his friend with his eyebrow raised.

"Vision and Wanda are getting on well?"

"Can he even…never mind it's just weird. My point is that Natasha should just let the new girl join! I mean we saw the footage of what her powers can do. Cap I need someone else to hang out with! Rhodes is constantly off doing something at the army base when he is not on duty and Natasha will be gone with you and doctor hottie soon."

Steve looked startled at the mention of Dr Simmons. He felt the need to correct Sam but dismissed it as the man was always flirting and talking like that about women and he had never paid it any mind before. He went to open his mouth to dispute his reasoning for wanting Skye on the team before somebody beat him to it.

"We can't put her on the team simply because you want someone to hang out with Sam." Both men looked over as the red head walked in and stood to look out the viewing glass at the punching Skye.

"Fine, but I don't see why you have her doing hand to hand combat and computer games when you could just have her bring down a mountain. Give her a uniform, a handshake and presto." Sam was met with a scathing look from the Black Widow.

"The Captain and I will be leaving soon and by then I should have made a decision. While we are gone you are in charge and I expect you to have her continue training, maybe have her spend some time with Wanda. I am fully aware of her powers, but if she cannot keep them in control or hold her own without them then she will only be a liability to this team."

Sam for all his jokes and laid back attitude was underneath a very mature and loyal man. Steve watched as he thought seriously about Natasha's words.

"Maybe some forms of meditation and a safe environment for her to practice would be a good idea." Natasha smiled at the man's words; that was why she was leaving him in charge.

"It will also be a good chance for me to get to know her better," he said with a wink. Natasha rolled her eyes, and that was why Wanda had been instructed to keep an eye on him.

Steve continued to sit there as all three watched Skye go over and over the forms she had been asked to do. There was soon a knock on the door however and Sam went over to open it. Dr Simmons stood shyly on the other side. Steve quickly looked over to the fidgety biochemist as she looked up startled at Sam.

"Hey if it isn't the lovely Jemma, came to take me up on that offer for a drink?"

The Captain felt himself frown, he told himself it was because Sam shouldn't be fraternising with any agents.

"Perhaps another time thank you Sam." Steve looked over at the smiling man. Since when had these two even met let alone become on a first name basis? It had only been a couple of days since the three agents had arrived and Dr Simmons had spent most of it studying reports and newspapers or anything to do with the legend of the Winter Soldier. She spent the rest of her time brushing up on her Russian and doing some light training when she could manage it.

Steve didn't have long to ponder before he was caught by Dr Simmons' calculating gaze.

"Could I speak with you Mr Rogers?" The first avenger quickly excused himself to leave with Dr Simmons, he received a pout from the obviously put out Sam. As soon as the doors swished behind him and Dr Simmons had checked that they were alone she began to ramble off on some information she had found out.

"There was another sighting of someone with a similar build and with an apparently metal limb, this one was in 1959 by a farmer in the outskirts of-"

Steve had noticed in the couple of days since she had been here just how incredibly intelligent the young woman was. She would often go off on these tirades spurting out facts as well as theories all to do with the mission. Steve often found he couldn't keep up but was content to simply listen to her stream of intellectual thoughts. He often picked out important bits and gave his own less intelligent thoughts on the matter.

"-Anyway I asked agent May but she was too busy and I thought maybe if you weren't too busy, that is of course you would be busy. I simply meant if you weren't so incredibly swamped under to possibly help me. I mean I know overseeing Skye's testing is also very important and I would never be so presumptuous as to think that my own-" Steve cut her off.

"You need my help?" The biochemist gulped and looked down at her shoes.

"I was undercover in Hydra so of course I have been trained to go in the field but…well this is such an important mission and I don't want to be a hindrance or burden to you or Miss Romanoff, I don't think I have enough skill to keep up or to-" He quickly cut her off.

"Be assured that we do not expect you to be up to the fighting level that I or Natasha are and we are fully equipped to protect you. You are coming mainly for your knowledge of Hydra, your medical expertise as well as your experience with robotic limbs. I don't think it is a bad idea if you learnt a few things while we have the time though. I would be happy to show you some moves." Steve added a smile for good measure cringing inside for his last use of words. He watched as the poor woman's shoulders slumped in relief, it seemed she had been quite nervous.

"Oh well, thank you very much. I didn't want to bother you, I mean Sam did offer-"

"Sam's very busy at the moment, got a big mission coming up. I have to go hear an update from a teammate of mine right now but how about I meet you down at the base training room and I can see what you've got." Dr Simmons smiled widely thanking him again before walking off to go get changed and warm up. Steve only felt mildly bad for the little white lie. Sam would likely be annoyed if he knew.

Jemma had promptly gotten changed and started warming up in the said training room. She was by no means an excellent fighter but she had gone through training and passed her field assessment before she was sent undercover.

She had been nervous to ask the famous Captain America and had first wanted to go to May, she had been busy of course and had immediately wanted to know for what she needed the practice for.

Jemma proceeded to do some stretches and relax her muscles. She had been so stressed these last couple of days, being in Hydra and standing in a room alone with both Coulson and Agent Hill put together had not been as stressful as this experience. The only time she could think of being this nervous and stressed had been when Fitz was in a coma. Fitz…Jemma felt her heart tighten. She missed him terribly but knew he could use the time away from her, besides, she was needed here.

Jemma moved her arm over her head and felt the marvellous pop that followed, she hoped Mr Rogers wouldn't be too long. She had come to enjoy his brief company over the last couple of days. He was very friendly and he had exquisite manners, Jemma often had to hold down the urge to blush every time he would hold open a door or ask her if she needed anything. She supposed it was how he had been brought up, she found it refreshing and quite sweet.

She tried very hard to remain professional and hoped that the Captain had not picked up on her slight appraisal of him. She of course knew of the rumours that the Captain and the Black Widow were an item, she had no desire to be on the feisty woman's bad side, nor in the Captain's pity. Besides the biochemist was quite happy to be of help to Mr Rogers and hopefully he may even consider her a good agent.

The woman straightened as she heard the door slide open. Instead of the tall figure of Mr Rogers a much smaller one came through the doorway. Simmons had the sudden terrible idea that Miss Romanoff had heard her thoughts about her boyfriend and had come to kill her and quietly dispose of her body. Jemma automatically dismissed the silly notion and stood at attention.

"Sorry but something came up and Steve had to rush off to help, he should be back by tomorrow. He told me that you would like some help with your fighting skills and I offered to come and have a look." Natasha disposed of her jacket to reveal sweats and a tank top similar to Jemma's.

"Hope that's ok."

Jemma felt her heart beat increase but nodded her head, she had seen how hard the deadly assassin had been on Skye and she did not relish the thought of her attention being put on her.

Before the biochemist could think anymore the woman in front of her had already pounced and delivered a swift kick to her abdomen sending Jemma sprawling to the ground.

Just as Jemma was about to ask what she was doing the Black Widow had already moved closer and was about to grasp her ankle. Thinking quickly Simmons kicked her legs out and attempted to sweep the red head's legs out from under her. Miss Romanoff promptly back flipped, crouched back and then flew towards Jemma fists ready. Jemma quickly rolled to her left and stood up ready to block a swift right kick from the assassin.

It occurred to Simmons that perhaps her idea wasn't so silly and that the assassin was trying to kill her.

Jemma attempted to hold her own and lashed out with a right hook but Miss Romanoff had lightning quick grabbed her extended wrist and twisted it behind her back. Simmons knew how to get out of this, she had been trained. She went quickly through the steps in her mind but before she could execute it the red head had pushed her to the ground gently and had her held in place. Jemma found herself panting and thoroughly stuck.

"I'm sorry I suppose that came as quite a shock. If it helps you were much better than expected, you have good reflexes." Jemma felt the light pressure leave her back and she found she was able to stand up and face the smiling woman who had attacked her.

"Um…thank you?" Simmons rubbed her arm where she had landed roughly.

"You have good reflexes but you think too much. That isn't your fault, you're a scientist after all and it's your job to think." Natasha seemed totally friendly and Jemma could hardly believe it was the same woman who had just attacked her.

"Fighting isn't an exam though, you have to learn to go by instinct, muscle memory. Thinking is good once you have time, and your brain Jemma Simmons will be your greatest weapon. My job though is to teach you what to do when you don't have time to think." Before Jemma could reply a fist came flying toward her and she was forced to duck.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't live in Russia nor have I ever been there so I apologise if any of my information is incorrect. Please read and review!**

The quin jet would be taking off soon. Jemma rubbed a particularly sore bruise on her thigh, she had spent the last two weeks sparring with one of the deadliest assassins in the world, and her body was not happy for it.

The notorious Captain America had gotten called away to a mission gone wrong and he still wasn't back. He was apparently flying back in and then hopping straight in the quin jet with Natasha and her to head to Russia.

Jemma had been worried about the super soldier although she would never dare admit it. She had done what she always did and was good at when worried; she threw herself into her work. When she wasn't studying her Russian and doing research on anything she could find on the Winter Soldier she was down in the training room practicing before Miss Romanoff would come down to spar with her.

Skye had also been undergoing many tests and eventually the Black Widow had taken her out to see a demonstration of her powers. Amidst many jokes and pleas to meet Thor, Sky had put in a solid effort.

Natasha had agreed to let her temporarily on the team, and she was to continue training and to only be sent on smaller risk missions. Natasha had been reluctant to hand her over to the all too eager Sam but she supposed that Skye was sassy enough to hold her own against his insistent flirting.

The two weeks had gone by and Simmons had finally come across the possible destination of one of the underground facilities that had been used before the cold war to train assassins for the Soviet Union. They believed that this was where Mr Barnes may have been held at some point and that they might find some clues as to how he survived and why he was working for hydra.

Jemma looked over at the red headed assassin; she was currently checking the plane over and running diagnostics. She hadn't said anything to Miss Romanoff, although she suspected that she already knew, the organisation that may have trained Mr Barnes may have been the start of what later became the black widow project. Jemma could only imagine what they might find and she hoped that whatever it was it didn't bring up to many painful memories for the spy.

Jemma was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the hatch opening, she placed down the bag she was stowing away and looked up at the figure coming on board.

"Well it's about time you showed up, how was Libya?" Steve smiled at the back of Natasha's head as she didn't turn around to greet him.

"Lovely thanks Nat, the scenery was great, they don't much like tourists though." Natasha snorted from her seat. The Captain turned to look at Dr Simmons as she smiled at him before putting away a couple of bags.

"Natasha didn't hurt you too much in training did she? Sorry about not being able to help, the last minute mission was very…unexpected." Dr Simmons looked up from her tablet that she had just gotten out.

"Oh no that is perfectly understandable, I am just glad you and your teammate got back safely. Besides Miss Romanoff is a great teacher," Jemma tried not to instinctively rub one of the bruises under her sleeve.

"Yes Agent Simmons did very well, she has good reflexes and learns quickly and I assure you she is mostly unharmed." Steve nodded at the knowledge before turning to the doctor herself and straightening.

"Good, now where are exactly are we going? Did we get a lead?"

Jemma stood up and walked over to hand the Captain a tablet. "After reading a report about a couple of local mountain climbers that claimed to have heard weird noises while lost near the base of a mountain in the north of Russia I remembered there was a sighting of a 'strange metal door' that later disappeared when it was tried to be found not far from the same area. It was also wasn't too far from where there was that sighting of a man with a metal arm. We looked at some scans of the landscape and found evidence of a hollow structure near the base of Dykh-Tau."

A topographic map flashed up on Steve's screen, Natasha's voice could be heard as she prepared the jet for takeoff. "It's a peak in the Caucasus mountains in Kabardino-Balkaria. The closest village is called Bezingi and it can be reached from Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkaria."

Jemma nodded her head vigorously, "the range is right on the border to Georgia. We think one of the underground facilities may have been built into the actual mountain...we might be able to find some clue as to what happened to Mr. Barnes." Steve felt hope bubble up in his stomach but it was quickly squashed with a feeling of dread. Who knew what had happened to Bucky but he did know that whatever he had been subjected to couldn't have been good.

"So that is where we are going?"

Natasha answered him. "Yes but we will have to go undercover to the village, we will be posing as eager mountain climbers. The Russian government although on much better terms still doesn't take kindly to foreign agencies coming on their soil. Besides Russia is still full of many who would like the country to still be under Soviet rule, we want to attract as little attention as possible."

Natasha started the engines and waited for the go ahead for takeoff. "We are meeting a contact of mine once we get to Russia; we have already had fake identities made up for us, I suggest you get familiar with them. Hope you kept your acting skills from Hydra Agent Simmons." Jemma picked up the folder that Natasha had pointed to before quickly strapping in for takeoff. Soon the jet was up and in the air and Jemma handed Mr Rogers the pages with his name on it and then started to flick through her own.

"Jenny Simons? Isn't that a little too close to my real name?"

Natasha looked back at the scientist before focussing again on flying. "You will need something close to your real name so you won't forget it and that when people call your name you will be quicker to respond to it. When under cover even a few seconds delay can give away that you're lying. When you were in Hydra you used your real name didn't you?"

Jemma nodded even though Natasha couldn't see her. "So you are not used to pretending to be someone else, you need something as close to your real name as possible to decrease your chances of blowing our cover." Jemma blushed and continued to read, she never had been good at acting, she was surprised she had survived in hydra as long as she had. Natasha put the jet into auto pilot and came and joined the pair as they flicked through their information packs.

Steve looked at his page and then back up at Natasha, "Hold on we're married?"

Jemma looked up startled at the Captain as he pointed with a raised eyebrow at a place on his page.

"Yes, trust me I didn't decide that, but it is a good idea as your face is so well known. People will be less likely to recognise you if you're in a setting they would not imagine you being in. Isn't that right Dr Simmons?"

Jemma looked up with wide eyes at the red head. "Uh y-yeah it has been noticed through psychological studies that if you see someone you know in a setting you would not normally relate them with then you are less likely to recognise them." The young girl heard her voice squeak at the end.

"Exactly and not many people would imagine you as a happy married tourist out to do mountain climbing with his wife. Sorry Cap but for this mission we are Mr and Mrs Riley." Steve watched as Natasha walked away to check on their flight pattern then looked over at Dr Simmons. She had her head down and she seemed to be thoroughly studying her fake identity.

It wouldn't be so bad; he had had to flirt with Natasha before while trying to stay on the down low after Hydra was exposed. This would just be the same, he felt bad for Dr Banner though, wherever he may be. And as he watched the biochemist he couldn't help but hope that she would be okay. Even though Natasha and he would be watching over her, he would have to pretend to be more wrapped up with his attention toward his 'wife.' While he had to treat 'Jenny' like his,…Steve looked down at the information in front of him, 'adoptive sister in-law?' Well he supposed Dr Simmons didn't look like she could be really related to either of them, especially with her English accent.

"So it looks like your Natasha's sister, how scary is that?" Steve tried to crack a joke. Jemma could only look up with a weak smile before looking back down at her information packet. Steve wondered why Dr Simmons had gone so quiet, he supposed she was just nervous as she had expressed her weakness in acting.

"We have a fairly long flight, why don't we try to quiz each other on our respective identities once we have read through them?" Jemma looked up and genuinely smiled at the legendary captain.

"Sure that sounds good." Jemma knew she needed to shake it off, this was a mission and she needed to concentrate. Besides the one thing she was good at doing when she was worried was homework.

 **Please review, it helps inspire me to keep writing.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, they have really pushed me to keep writing. Here is chapter 5**

The plane landed easily on the tarmac and Simmons felt relief to finally step out onto solid ground and breathe in fresh air. She immediately regretted it though as the ice air sliced straight down into her lungs like a knife and produced a sharp pain in her chest. Soon a large jacket was chucked onto her head obscuring her view. Jemma quickly put on the extra winter coat and turned to see Natasha walking away, she smiled. The stoic woman needed no thanks as she would only deny her actions. Over the two weeks that the Captain had been away Jemma had learnt to both fear as well as appreciate the red headed assassin.

"YA vizhu tebya zdes' v poryadke" Jemma looked over to see an older man in his late 50s come over bundled up in many layers of clothes.

"Vy prinesli , chto ya prosil?" Natasha quickly said to him and held out her hand.

"Yesli vy sobirayetes' , gde ya dumayu, chto vy vy sobirayetes' YA dumayu, yeshche raz. Eto bylo ochen' plokho zimoy, drugoy shtorm bystro podkhodit k oblasti." Natasha glared at the man, he sighed before handing over a leather bag.

"My Russian is a bit rusty, do you understand what they're saying?" Steve bent down to whisper to Jemma. The biochemist was glad the cold had made her cheeks and nose go red as it hid her blush.

"Not all of it, Miss Romanoff asked for something she was expecting, he said that we shouldn't be going out somewhere. He said something about it being a bad winter and I think… a storm coming?"

"Ne skazat', chto ya vas ne preduprezhdal Natal'ya" the man said before trudging away.

"Did he just call her Natalia?" Jemma whispered to Steve.

"Yeah I think so."

Natasha turned back to her two travelling companions.

"If you two are done whispering then we should get going. We have a long drive before getting to Bezingi village. Once there we will meet another one of my contacts, we are undercover from now on so even if we seem to be alone if we are out of the car then we are to act accordingly. Is that clear?"

Jemma felt the strange urge to salute but simply nodded her head as did Steve who was next to her.

Natasha led the way to an old four wheel drive parked at the back of the hanger shed they were in. She fished inside the leather bag that the man had given her and brought out a pair of keys. Steve helped to pack all the bags into the back of the car before hopping into the passenger seat. Natasha quickly hopped in the driver's seat and handed the leather bag over to the Captain. Jemma jumped in the back and took out her tablet.

Jemma soon realised that Natasha was quite a slow driver, she had expected her to be fast and dangerous for some reason. It was weird in some way that her driving didn't match her personality. Steve must have been thinking the same thing.

"Why are you not even going the speed limit Natasha?"

"We are on holiday remember, a loving couple out seeing Russia with my younger history buff sister tagging along. We are not driving fast as we don't need to." Natasha replied deadpan. Jemma wondered if the whole undercover thing was a bit overboard but she supposed she should trust that the famous Black Widow knew what she was doing.

Jemma flicked through her tablet at some satellite imagery of the area they were heading to. She was worried as it was winter and Russia was freezing at the best of times. She looked at the mountain, it wasn't the tallest peak in the range but it was still certainly high and if they got caught in a storm… Jemma shook her head, she needed to focus.

"Passports, cash, a few maps, who was that guy back there? Will the jet be safe?" Steve was rifling through the leather bag.

"He owed me a favour, the jet will be fine, we came into Russian airspace with the cloaking device on so we shouldn't have been detected."

"Bezingi Village will be a few hours' drive from here at this pace. We are staying with your contact aren't we Miss Romanoff?" Jemma asked. Natasha nodded affirmative.

The car soon fell into silence, Natasha wasn't a talker at the best of times unless she was giving or taking orders. Steve's mind was off somewhere else, his broad shoulders bunched up and his head tilted to watch out the window.

Jemma was all over the place, her mind was going over and over her cover identity as well as her companions'. She was screening the maps behind her eyelids thinking of possible entry points to the underground facility. The predominant part of her brain though was…thinking about Fitz. Jemma wondered what her best friend was doing. Was he okay? What was he working on? Was he hanging out with Mac?...Did he miss her as much as she was missing him? Jemma knew she should be dedicating that thought process to something else but she couldn't help but contemplate as to her friend's well being.

Jemma looked at the back of Captain Rogers' head. She could only imagine what he was going through. She supposed that Mr Barnes had been as close to him as Fitz was to her. She couldn't even begin to understand what it must be like to wake up decades into the future, everyone and everything you know out of date or gone. Then you finally have hope of someone you love still being there, only to have it tainted by questions and lies and the fact that he was sent out to kill you.

As if sensing the fact that Jemma was thinking about him Steve turned to look at the young scientist. She offered a weak smile that Steve warmly returned.

"Have you ever been to Russia Dr Simmons?" Jemma blinked and looked out at the passing scenery. Because they had flown and landed straight in a private hanger out in the middle of nowhere and they were currently driving through outer country she supposed she really hadn't seen that much. It is not like they got to go to Moscow or St Petersburg or anything. Snow was everywhere and the landscape shone with the little bit of sun glinting off the untouched powder.

"No I haven't, the landscape is beautiful." It was, with pristine white snow occasionally interrupted by white capped trees and rocks scattered across hills and mountains.

Not ten minutes later did Steve turn to Natasha with a guilty look on his face. "Hey Natasha sorry but-" The red head just sighed before pulling off to the side of the road near a clump of trees.

"Hurry up." Jemma giggled as the famous and legendary Captain America smiled gratefully before leaping out of the car to stroll over out of view behind some trees.

Just at that moment a Ute pulled over not far up ahead and a tall man in bulky coat and warm looking beanie hopped out and started to come over, his big boots leaving craters in the snow.

Natasha looked back at Jemma and she nodded, they both hopped out to meet the man.

"You people aren't from around here. What are you doing on this road during this time of year? Are you lost?" The man's accent was thick but his English was very good.

"No we aren't lost, we just stopped because my husband had to relieve himself. We are on holiday. We are actually on our way to Bezingi Village." Jemma was shocked at how easily Natasha's accent disappeared and an easy smile appeared on her face. She sounded just like a happy tourist.

"Well you picked a terrible time to travel up this way, the snow is deep and it is one of the coldest winters I've seen." Jemma watched the small scar near the side of the man's mouth change shape as he talked. He looked like his expression was permanently serious, but then again, Jemma mused, so was Natasha's. Perhaps it was a Russian thing.

Steve soon came wandering back fully alert to the new person. The man looked slightly taken aback by the sight of Steve. Jemma supposed it may have just have been the fact that he was so big, along with the big winter coat he could almost rival Thor.

"Who are you?" The man looked from Steve to Natasha to Jemma then back to Steve.

"My name is Natalie and this is my husband Stan" Natasha turned and put a hand on Steve's chest. "Honey this man was just asking if we were lost or in need of any assistance."

Jemma felt something in the pit of her stomach as she watched Natasha sticking closely to Steve's side.

Steve coughed before smiling at the unfriendly looking man. He quickly wrapped an arm around Natasha. "Thank you very much but we should be okay I think, got the four wheel drive, got the chains, got a map." The man seemed to look suspiciously at the two before glancing over at a wide eyed Jemma.

"Sorry, that is my younger sister Jenny, she has always wanted to see Russia so we said she could tag along." Natasha chuckled good naturedly but the man did not even blink an eyelash before he turned his eyes back to Steve.

"May I ask your name?" Steve asked uncomfortable.

"Anton"

"Well Anton it was very nice to meet you, I am afraid we should probably get back on the road and out of this cold." Steve said smiling and moving back towards the car.

"Yes you should hope to get to the village before nightfall; the road is even more dangerous in the dark. Enjoy your stay" without much else the man trudged back to his Ute.

Steve, Natasha and Jemma all quickly jumped back into the relative warmth of the car and watched as Anton began to head off in the opposite direction as them.

"Well he was friendly." Jemma exclaimed sarcastically from the back. Steve nodded his head in agreement.

"Do you think he recognised me?"

"I don't know, but let's hope nothing comes of it." Natasha replied, she soon put her foot to the pedal and started to head off toward a big looking mountain.

Jemma sat in the back seat, there was no doubt it had been a weird exchange. All Jemma could think about though was how easily both Miss Romanoff and the Captain could slip into the role of being happily married. She supposed it mustn't be too hard if they are already…..what, dating? An item? Lovers? None of the words quite seemed right to describe two members of the avengers who were in a relationship.

Jemma was brought out of her thoughts by Steve's voice "I wonder what it will be like once we get in closer amongst the mountains."Said man was peering out his window. It wasn't long before they found out. An hour or so later they were on a windy road curving upwards over a mountain.

"Watch it!"

"Look out!"

"We are going to die before we even get there."

Steve held onto the door with one hand and braced himself against the dash with the other. Jemma was currently in a ball and white as a ghost in the back. Natasha had no expression on her face as she concentrated on getting the car over the rough terrain.

Jemma felt the contents of her stomach swirl as they turned a very sharp corner, the back wheels almost going over the edge of the cliff face to their left. Jemma peered out the window over the edge but could see nothing in the snowy fog that was surrounding them. How could this be a tourist destination? The road to get to Bezingi Village was a death trap.

Suddenly a rumbling could be heard and all three occupants of the car looked out to see rocks coming flying down the mountain. Natasha quickly put her foot on the accelerator.

Jemma silently took back anything she had thought about Natasha's driving as the woman sped the car around another corner. Anything loose in the car was thrown about. Jemma tried to catch her tablet as it went sailing into the opposite door. The car shook as it bumped over stones and clumps of snow. A boulder landed not two feet away and Jemma bit back a scream. Smaller rocks could be heard bouncing off the roof and more and more larger ones were landing not far from the car.

Natasha turned another corner and then had to quickly yank the wheel to go around a fallen pile of stone. Everything in the car flew in the opposite direction. Jemma felt her head bang against her window with a crack. They sped off quicker as more and more rocks and snow continued to rain down on them. Jemma shook off the pain to grab onto the back of Natasha's seat and brace herself as they flew around another corner, the rumbling only getting louder.

Suddenly a cascade of rocks fell a few meters in front of the car. Jemma swore she saw her life flash before her eyes, they were going to crash. Natasha let out a curse in Russian and Jemma latched onto her arm rest and held her breath. Natasha slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel.

The car started sliding to the side, dirt and snow being flung up by the wheels. They came dangerously close to edge and to the rock pile before finally rocking to a stop. The rumbling continued for a few seconds as more stones bounced off the roof before finally stopping. Silence reined except for the heaving breathing of the two passengers in the car.

"Is it over?" Steve was the first to break the silence.

"I knew the mountains would be dangerous but I didn't think we would be caught in a rockslide on the journey there." Jemma whispered, almost as if afraid that if she talked too loud it would start another one.

"This is a dangerous area this time of year, most tourists wait until after winter before coming up this way usually. The heavy snow makes the rocks unstable." Natasha didn't seem all to freaked out as she restarted the car and slowly squeezed the car past the pile of rubble and back onto the road ahead.

"Are you okay?" Steve looked back at the biochemist as she rubbed the side of her head.

"I'm the doctor, aren't I supposed to be asking _you_ that" Jemma joked as she quickly did a scan of the two in the front for injuries.

"Yeah but I wasn't the one who had their head smashed against a window."

"I'm fine, no signs of a concussion, no bleeding just a head ache and a small bump."

Natasha glanced back. "Okay but we are going to keep an eye on it, tell us if you feel woozy or sleepy."

Jemma smiled back at the red head and nodded. They were soon on their way again and it wasn't long before the road dipped back down again. It brought them into a bowl surrounded by mountains. In the centre was a cluster of small buildings and houses with a single narrow road leading out the other side and off into a gap between two mountains.

The three drove the car down towards it. A small sign was built off to the side that read Bezingi Village.

"Looks like we're here" said Steve as he tried to see better through the fog at the small cluster of huts.

Natasha seemed almost like she knew where she was going as she drove through before pulling in next to a banged up jeep outside a log building. Steve and Jemma went to unfasten their seatbelts but Natasha shook her head and motioned for them to stay where they were as she went to go inside. The cold air quickly seeped in without the heater going and Jemma hoped that the deadly spy wouldn't take long.

As the silence lay heavy in the car between the scientist and the Captain Jemma wished she could make some kind of conversation. She could crack a joke about the scary journey here, make a comment on the surrounding area, ask how the man was feeling now that they may be close to finding out about his long lost friend, or enquire about the beautiful old compass he would occasionally get out to glance at…anything! Jemma sat there thinking of anything to say.

Steve wasn't fairing much better, he wanted to say something, ask again if the young girl was alright. He had panicked when he had heard the bang of her head hitting glass, he was relieved to see she hadn't received much damage. He wanted to say something but his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

The Captain had been tense the second they had landed in Russia. Would they find out anything about Bucky? Or was this whole ordeal for nothing? He worried that if they did find anything that he would probably wish he hadn't. What could have changed such a good man into a member of Hydra?

Steve was also worried about Sam back at the base, was he doing okay? Was he over seeing Skye's training? Was the team managing okay? He sighed as he shook his head.

He was also thinking about Natasha, Dr Simmons had told him about the possibility of this organisation being the roots of the black widow project. Steve knew that Natasha's past haunted her to no end, he hoped that this mission wouldn't transport her mind straight back to those memories.

He felt down to his pocket where his compass was stored, he hoped that Jemma would forgive his silence. He wished to speak to her, talk to her, let her voice wash over him to calm his nerves. Nothing came out of his mouth though as he gripped the compass in his pocket.

Natasha came back soon and Steve stamped down the ridiculous feeling of annoyance. It was not like he had even said a word to the young biochemist, why should he feel annoyed at Natasha for interrupting. Another man hopped into the jeep outside and started down the small road, Natasha quickly started the car and they followed him.

Steve had the sinking feeling, as they pulled up in front of a bigger log building, that he wasn't going to enjoy this visit to Russia very much.

 **Please review and tell me what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

**New Chapter! Sorry it is a little shorter. Thank you for anyone who is reading this. Please review if you can as I love to hear about things you like and any ideas that you may have.**

Steve entered into the log building and sighed as the room enveloped him in warmth, he saw the source of the heat to be a large stone fire place. He quickly stripped himself of his over coat and quickly offered to take the girls' ones. Natasha's contact was a younger lady, not much older than 25 if he had to guess. She had introduced herself in broken English as Alyona. She was very tall, almost as tall as the captain himself, she looked strong and Steve guessed that like Natasha you probably didn't want to get on the wrong side of her. She had given Natasha some sort of directions in Russian and the red head had quickly taken off back outside leaving a nervous looking Jemma and a cold Captain with a tall blonde Russian woman.

"Excuse me…do you know where um we can put our stuff?" Jemma asked the woman. She seemed so dwarfed by the large woman. Steve couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the sight.

"Stuff?" Alyona said in her thick accent, she seemed to be thinking hard.

"Ah um… gde my mozhem postavit' nashi veshchi?" Jemma tried.

Understanding lit up on Alyona's face as she quickly ushered the two down a hall and to separate bedrooms. The accommodations were small but Steve hoped there would be no need for them to stay too long anyway. Hopefully they would find this facility and some answers about Bucky and with any luck his current location.

Soon Natasha was back and she told the two to get dressed, they would be having dinner at the local centre. It was kinda like the pub, or social network of the small village. They would be having an early night because tomorrow they would have to set out for the mountain. Alyona had gear for them and apparently she was notified of their mission as Natasha didn't bother to use their code names.

Steve groaned as he got changed, he would have to pretend to be married the whole evening to keep up their cover. It was just plain weird to see Natasha act so happy and care free and both he and Jemma agreed that it was a bit unnerving to watch. He supposed they had to keep up appearances…but still. A tiny part of him wondered what it would be like if he had to pretend to be married to Jemma. He quickly shook his head; the young girl had no place in his head. Steve looked down at his compass, the face that smiled back at him made his stomach knot and for some reason made him feel guilty and almost disloyal. He quickly shut the compass and tucked it safely into his pocket and left to join the others.

Alyona took them to the local centre and Steve soon realised that Russian bars were much like American ones just a bit quieter and with no sports channel playing in the background, well this one at least was. Natasha had quickly plastered on a smile and held his hand, Steve easily pulled out a chair for her before leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. He looked up to watch Jemma walk off to the bar with Alyona. Natasha smilingly asked in fake broken Russian a waitress for something that Steve didn't understand, he assumed dinner.

Steve continued to flirtingly play along with Natasha, it wasn't hard. She was a very attractive woman and she was very charming when she wanted to be. For Natasha's acting Steve could tell even as she looked totally engrossed with him she was surveying the room around them just as he was. Neither of them needed to communicate anything as they had both seen the man walk in and shuffle to a dark corner at the end of the bar. He was watching them from under his beanie as he pretended to be absorbed in his drink.

Steve tucked a strand of hair behind Natasha's ear as he discreetly looked over her shoulder. There was a table with a two couples who were quietly eating their dinner and talking in hushed voices. A little left to them though was a table with two men who kept glancing over at the newcomer at the bar and then back at them. Steve quickly assessed that they were reasonably fit and one seemed to have his hand permanently inside his jacket, Steve assumed a weapon of some kind was concealed. Both men were nursing drinks and playing a slow game of cards as they silently watched him and Natasha.

Steve offered to get his 'wife' a drink, making a show of leaving her for the bar. Natasha exclaimed that she was going to the rest room to freshen up. Steve leisurely made his way up to the bar, Jemma glanced at him curiously but stayed quiet as she sipped her drink and munched on a bowl of chips she had acquired.

Steve ordered a drink in his bad Russian and watched as the tender grunted understanding before turning to acquire the appropriate bottle. The Captain glanced over at the man in the corner of the bar but his back was turned and his face was shrouded in shadow. He wasn't sure if this man had recognised him or was simply antisocial, he was willing to bet it was the first one.

Steve's drink finally came but before he could pick it up to take back to their table the two men who had been playing cards had came up behind him. One put his large arm around Steve's shoulder and leaned in.

"Welcome to Bezingi my friend. It is a surprise to see you here; shouldn't you be in your precious land of the free?" The man whispered, Steve found it hard to understand with his accent so thick.

"Uh thank you, how did you know I know I was from America? My wife, sister-in-law and I only arrived this afternoon. Does news of tourists travel so quickly here?" Steve assessed the situation. There were at least 15 other people milling about in the bar and he counted three exits. He needed to get this scene outside somehow.

The other man moved to pull the tall blonde out of his chair. "Oh please don't pretend with us. What tourists would be crazy enough to come here during this winter? I think you should come with us…Captain." The man seemed to hiss the last word as he shoved him towards the back of the bar.

Jemma went to stand but Steve discreetly shook his head to stay where she was. She looked worried but she did what she was told. The Captain was glad as all three walked past the restrooms and out the door to the cold snow covered alley behind the town centre. At least now he didn't have to find a discreet way to get the men outside.

The air was sucked out of him as the freezing air struck him in the chest and he resisted the urge to fold his arms against the cold.

The first slightly bigger man wasted no time as he pushed Steve harshly up against the wall and muttered something in Russian before spitting at his feet. "What are you doing here Captain America, you are no tourist."

"What does it matter if I'm not?" asked Steve as he looked the man in the eye, not at all intimidated by his current position.

"We do not want your filthy 'righteous' mindset here. Why are you going up into the mountains? You should just pack up and go back to the land you came from." Steve quickly grabbed the man's wrist that was up against his chest and twisted his arm and flipped them to slam the man where he had been just before. He pushed the man hard into the wall as his companion had acted quickly and already produced a knife from his jacket and was holding it threateningly toward Steve.

The scene seemed to freeze as all three men were stock still as Steve glared at the man in front of him. "Why shouldn't I go into the mountains? What might I find?"

Steve saw the shift of eyes of the man he was holding and acted quickly as he effortlessly dodged the blade that came flying near his neck. He quickly spun and swept the legs out from under the unsuspecting man. The other quickly jumped on his back. Steve stepped backwards and pushed hard, he heard the groan as he was smashed into the wall behind them. The man slumped to the ground as Steve focussed again on the other guy. He was back on his feet and took no time to try a swipe at Steve's face with his knife. Steve dodged to the side then blocked a left kick with his forearm.

The Captain could feel his adrenaline pumping as he swiftly dodged left and right as the increasingly frustrated man kept slashing furiously with his dagger. He was angry. Why did they not want him to go into the mountains? What was up there? Steve had enough of dancing with this guy and swiftly knocked the knife from his hand with a left kick and bodily pushed him to the ground.

"I'll repeat myself, what might I find in the mountains? What are you hiding? Who are you?" Steve growled at the man he had pinned beneath him.

"I would never tell you, cut off one head and two more shall take its place."

Steve pushed down harder on the man's chest as he coughed and wheezed under the pressure. "I thought this was a Soviet Union base. How are you Hydra?"

He chuckled with what little breath he had, "Hydra…is everywhere." The man gasped out before he blacked out.

Steve stared down at the man before looking over his shoulder at the sound of a crash. It appeared the other man had snuck up with a bottle raised ready to smash into the Captain's head but he had been stopped by a quick punch from a redhead.

"Not the time to space out Steve." Natasha quickly caught the crumpling man and propped him against the wall.

"Thanks Nat, should have known you didn't need to use the restroom."

"Good thing I didn't." Natasha gestured to the unconscious men. "If I heard right then we might have some Hydra agents on our hands, in Russia of all places. I am wondering if they are protecting something in that old base. Why else would they try to keep a soviet facility guarded, it is too small a village to just have two Hydra agents here for any other reason."

Steve nodded as he got up off the man and brushed himself down. "I doubt that this is the last we have seen of Hydra. I want to get up and try and find that facility tomorrow, we have to find what they are guarding." Steve looked at the two men. "What do we do with these two though?"

"Alyona will keep them contained at her place for now. We can't organise a transfer into Shield custody now as it would blow our cover and then we may have the Russian government on our hands as well. She will be able to handle them, they are small fry; obviously too stupid to know not to take on a super soldier by themselves armed only with a knife."

Steve chuckled as he made short work of tying the two men up. Natasha looked around the alley before gesturing to the door with her head. "We should head back in before we arouse too much suspicion. Besides I think agent Simmons is worried about you." Steve ignored that comment.

"How much do you wanna bet that guy at the end of the bar is gone?"

"Let's hope he doesn't give us trouble later, though I doubt it is smooth sailing from here. Why did I agree to help you with this Rogers?"

"Cause otherwise you would be stuck back with Sam."

"Oh yeah."

Meanwhile back at HQ Sam sneezed all over Skye.

"Ewww, Sam what the hell? Trying to meditate here, get a tissue!" said brunette moaned from her lotus position across from the mirrored Falcon as she attempted to wipe her face with her sleeve.

 **Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, short chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, they really help me to keep writing. Any suggestions or favourite parts are very welcome.**

* * *

The sky was overcast as they drove down the bumpy road between two mountains. They had left the village early, leaving two tied up Hydra agents locked in Alyona's basement. The crisp air crept into every crevice and even with the heater in the car going the four occupants felt the blistering cold. Steve looked to his side to see Dr Simmons pull her jacket a little tighter around herself as she peered down at a map. The biochemist had immediately questioned Natasha and him when they got back to Alyona's that night and quickly checked both for injuries despite their insistence that they were fine.

They had explained the situation and ever since Jemma had been deep in thought, apparently not long after the men had gone outside with Steve had the man at the bar disappeared. Jemma's face had gone stony after they could get no more information out of the two men after they came to. Both stayed silent to most questions only occasionally repeating the phrase "Cut off one head and two more shall take its place." Almost robotically back at the growingly frustrated Captain.

Now they were on their way into the mountain range and the road steadily got worse the further they drove along. Steve gave Alyona credit, she was an excellent driver, and she navigated extremely well. Even with her skills though, they were no match for the rough snow covered terrain that was attributed to the winter conditions. Steve looked up at the steep peak and white covered rocks and lines of trees that jutted out of the mountain they were closest to. Soon the car came to a stop.

"Drive no closer, must walk rest of way." Alyona said as she opened her door. They felt their only barrier against the harsh Russian cold be taken away and the ice begin to settle in their lungs. Steve hopped out and strapped on his pack and then his shield over the top. He immediately felt better with the familiar weight on his back, reassured that he now had his greatest weapon.

Steve looked over to see the three other girls were rugged up and ready to go. Alyona quickly took up the lead and they were lead to the base of the mountain. There was a track, or what was left of one winding up the side of the mountain. It was covered in snow and it could be seen where parts of it had fallen away. They soon started their way up, going slow as to watch their footing.

"According to the satellite reading there should be an opening somewhere on the East side of the mountain. I would predict it to be higher up but keep your eyes open." Jemma looked down at a map in her hands before glancing down at her footing as she followed Alyona's steps carefully.

"What will the opening look like?" Natasha asked.

"I am not entirely sure, look out for any abnormalities in the mountain structure." Alyona looked back at Simmons.

"Look out for anything different."

The four marched for hours at a slow pace. They clambered over large fallen boulders, sludged through pools of icy water and they hugged the wall of the mountain as they passed breaks in the track. The climb was steep and the cold air stole away their air as they pushed themselves higher up. Soon the cold as well as the climb seemed to get to Jemma. Steve looked at the young scientist as she continued on, the steam coming out of her mouth in large puffs.

"Maybe we should take a break." Natasha suggested as she looked at the exhausted young agent. Steve felt his shoulders stiffen.

"No we keep going, we have to be close we've been walking for hours." The red head glared at him.

"Everyone is tired and Agent Simmons could use the rest." Steve would be lying if a part of him didn't want to stop for the young girl but the bigger part of him screamed to keep going.

"I know but we can't stop!"

"Steve you are letting your desire to find out about Barnes compromise your thinking." Natasha didn't raise her voice but her tone had taken on a hard edge as she stood in front of the imposing figure of the super soldier. She stood her ground as the large blonde Captain raised his body up in frustration.

Steve couldn't believe this, they knew how important this mission was to him. They were close, so close he could feel it. They were near to finding answers about Bucky. He had let his friend down once and he would not do it again.

Steve felt the familiar scenes flashing in his head quickly like a slide show, the images made him feel nauseous as he briefly closed his eyes. Bucky smiling, Bucky laughing, Bucky giving orders and then of course the end frozen image of the winter soldier. The cold eyes, the straight mouth, a man who didn't recognise himself as Bucky or recognise the man he was attacking as his best friend. Steve clenched his fists and felt his rage build. He had let that happen to him, let him become the assassin that Bucky would never willingly be. He had abandoned his friend thinking him dead and now he was dealing with the consequences.

"Look if Dr Simmons isn't able to deal with the climbing then maybe it was a mistake to bring her along!" As the Captain snapped the words he knew they weren't true, they needed the doctor and she had done nothing but what was asked of her. Right now though, because of his anger and frustration at being so close to finding out about Bucky, he didn't care.

"Steve!" Natasha seemed on the verge of raising her voice.

"No its okay Miss Romanoff, Mr Rogers is right." Jemma quickly turned her face away from the group. "I don't need a break; we need to keep going if we want to find the entrance. It will be a death trap if we end up here once it gets dark and we need to keep moving or risk hyperthermia or even frostbite." Jemma had started back up the mountain, moving in front of Alyona and trudging ahead. "I am aware that I am a burden on this mission but I will try my best to not slow you down Captain."

Something in the young doctor's voice made Steve feel guilty and he immediately regretted his words. He watched as her shoulders were hunched forward and she didn't even call him Mr Rogers as he had become accustomed. He felt the anger slowly fade away only to be replaced with shame for taking out his anger at himself onto the young sweet doctor.

He silently followed as the other two did the same, not without Natasha giving him a dirty look. Steve felt he deserved it but said nothing as they continued on. After another hour Jemma had began to wobble slightly in her steps but did not complain as she stubbornly pushed forward. Her left foot hit a piece of unstable ground and there was a loud cracking sound. All three looked up and suddenly the ground under Jemma gave way and she was sent tumbling.

"JEMMA!" Steve felt the name ripped out of him as both he and Natasha leapt forward to grasp her outstretched hand. Time seemed to freeze as Steve watched in horror as Jemma was suspended over the edge just as Bucky had been on the drone all those years ago. They were both too late as Jemma went crashing over the side. She screamed as she plummeted down below.

Soon there was silence and as all three looked over the side, they could see nothing however, only the white of snow and the fog that surrounded them. Steve felt the anxiety grip his insides, it was his fault, his stubbornness that had done this. If the poor girl hadn't been so tired she would have noticed the uneven ground and the cracks leading through.

He looked over at Natasha, her face stone. He could tell beneath she was panicked though, even just by the slight rise in her shoulders and the miniscule widening of her eyes. Steve closed his own eyes against the utter hopelessness that he felt inside. She had to be okay, but yet he felt the lie fall flat on his guilt.

"Miss Romaoff?" They heard a faint voice from below.

"Agent Simmons are you okay?" Steve could not help but hear the relief in Natasha's voice as she leaned over the edge. Steve himself could not help the breath that he had been holding flow out of him as he quickly released the compass in his pocket that he didn't realise he had been gripping. He leaned over the edge but they could see nothing but white, Jemma was nowhere to be seen.

"I-I'm alright. You guys might want to find a way down here though. I-I think I found the entrance." The voice was soft and the three could only just hear it over the howling wind that had begun to pick up. Both Steve and Natasha looked over to see Alyona immediately rummage through her bag before pulling out a long rope and some ice picks.

Steve missed the look Natasha gave him as he rushed to follow the tall blonde woman's actions and begin a descent down to where the voice had come from.

* * *

 **Please review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews! Love hearing your is a long story and I already have the main plot figured out but I have heaps of room for improvisation, so please if you have an idea hit me in a review. Or even if you just want to tell me what you have liked so far I would appreciate it.**

* * *

Jemma felt the pain in her side; time had seemed to stand still as she had been suspended over the edge of the track. Soon it was speeding up again as she fell down into the fog below.

She had luckily twisted her body around and aimed for a large patch of thankfully soft snow. She would have come out without a scratch if not for a rock buried beneath that had snagged her ribcage. She wasn't bleeding but she knew her ribs must be bruised maybe even cracked. It was nothing she couldn't handle and as she dragged herself up she was determined not to let the others, especially the Captain see her in pain.

She felt relief surge through her to hear Miss Romanoff's strong stable voice call a reply, like an anchor for her still swirling head. She then immediately felt stupid for having not noticed the unstable footing and she almost wished that the others wouldn't find her after the Captain's last comment.

Of course she had only proven his point by going tumbling down the side of a cliff face. Perhaps she _was_ a burden and maybe Coulson _had_ been wrong in choosing her. Both the Captain, Natasha and Alyona had faired just fine climbing but the increasing lack of oxygen had been getting to Jemma and she had found herself short of breath.

After chastising herself thoroughly and wishing for the mountain to swallow her up she looked over to see what the soft snow was piled in front of. The top of the metal door that was peeking out from the snow immediately filled her with excitement. If she wasn't trying to find a way of standing that didn't hurt her side, or clearing her still dizzy mind, then she may have done one of Skye's ridiculous happy dances.

They had found it! The entrance!

Jemma had called back to the others and told them to come down. Surprisingly the Captain was the first to reach her and he seemed like he was almost about to hug her but he reluctantly stepped back. Jemma thought she must be imagining things.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? What did you land on?" Mr Rogers was scanning her from head to toe, his eyes zeroed in on how she leaned slightly to her left as she hugged her frame casually. Steve didn't say anything but slightly lowered his head to look at the ground.

Jemma thought he almost looked worried but she saw his eyes widen again as he quickly asked what she had meant by the entrance. Jemma simply pointed to the large metal door obscured mostly from view by a mass of snow.

Alyona and Natasha quickly reached where they were and the Black Widow's sharp eyes immediately picked up on the young scientist's injuries. The red head said nothing as the biochemist didn't seem to want to point them out, no doubt, Natasha thought, because of the Captain's comment about not bringing her along.

Natasha quickly looked over at the offending man as he was currently digging in the snow to get to the doorway. The assassin knew that finding out about Barnes was important to the super soldier but she just hoped that he would try to keep his anger at himself directed away from the young woman.

Jemma watched as the great Captain America moved massive lumps of hard snow, she blushed to think of the muscle mass required to lift such weights. She quickly shook her head, he had Natasha and it was made clear that he thought she was a liability to this mission and she should in no way be ogling the man.

She took no time in joining Alyona in helping shovel away the soft snow while Natasha soon joined in. She soon felt the wetness of the ice as she shovelled; it leaked in through her gloves and stung her fingers.

With the three of them working it was soon no time at all before the area was cleared and the door stood before them. It looked strong although the old digit code panel was rusted and stiff from lack of use. Jemma doubted it still worked even if they knew the code to get in.

Jemma quickly pulled the R8-40 from her pack and latched it onto to the old control panel. The round object immediately began to glow blue. Jemma struggled to punch in the right buttons as the wind was now howling and she could hardly hear herself think. Finally with shaky fingers she typed in the code and promptly shouted over the wind for everyone to stand back on either side of the door.

Soon a loud bang was heard and a small explosion crashed out the side of the mountain. The young biochemist smiled to see that the R8-40 had destroyed the panel and the door was now slightly ajar. She made a mental note to thank Fitz when she got back. He would smile triumphantly she was sure at her praise, he was truly proud of the device as it had taken four attempts and three fires in the lab for him to get it right.

Steve was soon heaving with the effort to push the door far enough open for all of them to be able to fit through. Jemma was thankful to be out of the whistling wind and blocked from the cold snow but was soon dismayed as she was enveloped in darkness. All four got out their flash lights and they were soon walking down a long metal hallway.

They soon started to go past multiple doors but each one only revealed a worn old bed. As they walked further along Jemma felt an eerie feeling as she observed the slightly ajar doors and scratch marks against the cold metal. They looked like prison cells, ones that had been gotten out of.

The hallway soon led to a large round room with an incredibly high ceiling. Like a dome set in the middle of the mountain. Their flashlights didn't show much so when Jemma spied the control box she smiled.

"Bingo" Jemma scurried over to it and flung off her pack.

"Can you fix it?" Natasha's voice was low as she kept sweeping her eyes around the room.

"I think so." The box was big, made of old technology, Jemma got a screwdriver and shimmied on her back underneath it.

Steve watched in awe as only the young scientist's legs were poking out. There were some grunts as well as tinkering noises coming from underneath. After a curse and a quiet mumble of a name there was a loud whirring noise before large lights above began to flicker before finally illuminating the room with its dull glow.

Jemma shimmied out to look in awe at the room. The room had once been a bustling lab of some kind but was now a mess. The room had been trashed and things had been clearly taken. Along the walls Jemma could see rows of filing cabinets, some open and some completely knocked over, paper littered the floor and broken glass was everywhere.

In the middle of the room was a large overturned treadmill with wires and cords spilling out of it and connecting to larger machines assumedly for recording purposes. Jemma walked over and ran her fingers over the grip pads and looked at the layer of dust, no one had been here in decades and it seemed whoever was here last had ransacked the place.

Jemma glanced over at the Captain, he was standing in front of a bench, it had leather restraints at the top and bottom and it could be assumed that it was used to hold someone down. The Captain looked clearly angry as he touched the metal edges were old dried blood was stained.

Jemma glanced up at the contraption above him and the bench and felt the beginnings of dread coil around inside her.

She had seen it before. It had admittedly looked different but she was sure it was used for the same purpose. The screen, the headset, the metal claws used to keep a struggling participant from looking away. Jemma felt sick as she now knew who had ransacked this facility and how James Barnes had lost his memories.

Jemma walked slowly over to the Captain and pointed upwards when she had his attention. Steve looked up at the contraption that was no doubt meant to be lowered onto whatever poor person was strapped to the bench. He wheezed out a breath before looking down at her. Jemma felt the need to whisper in the quiet of the room.

"It's called a Faustus machine, I saw a modified version when I was undercover" Steve looked at her expectantly "…in Hydra."

"How does it work?"

Jemma didn't want to tell him, she really didn't. She knew that he understood that this was what Bucky would have been subjected to. She didn't want to be the one to tell him the horror of the procedure that could turn even the strongest person around to go against their own will. Jemma gripped the side of the bench until her knuckles turned white.

"Faustus is a psychological coercion method. The participant is restrained and through hypnosis and mental reprogramming is made to become compliant." Jemma swallowed a lump in her throat. "The victim's eyes are kept forcibly open and if they show signs of resistance they can be swayed back by use of a vocalized code."

Jemma watched as Steve had no expression on his face as he stared up at the old rusting head piece. Jemma wouldn't have heard his next whispered question if she had not been listening so closely.

"That is why Bucky doesn't remember anything and why he is working for Hydra isn't it? He was used with this machine." Jemma gripped the bench harder and looked down at the leather straps that would be used to hold down a struggling victim. Jemma knew she didn't have to answer, the super soldier was fully aware. She nodded anyway simply to confirm his answer.

"It is painful." It wasn't a question but a statement as Steve looked with hard eyes down at the restraints Jemma was looking at.

"Yes."

Jemma needed to say something, something to give the man hope, this anger and dejectedness did not suite him and she wanted the fired up Captain America back. Then she remembered something, something that did promise hope.

"He is still in there."

"What?"

"The machine, the brainwashing" Jemma looked up with a hesitant smile. "It can't take away memories, only block or distort them. Recovery is possible and the effects aren't permanent, Mr. Barnes is still inside the Winter Soldier somewhere."

Steve looked over at the scientist with a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he whispered. "There may still be a way to reach him, to save him." Steve finally smiled.

"That is right; we just need to find him. At least we now know why he ended up with Hydra."

Natasha walked up with Alyona not far behind, Natasha handed Jemma a crumpled file. "It definitely looks like the place was ransacked by Hydra, they have taken or wrecked most of the place, no doubt not long after the cold war. Found this though hiding behind a filing cabinet."

Jemma flipped open the stained old yellow cover as she felt the Captain move around to look over her shoulder. There were pictures, old black and white photos taken of men and woman in a training room. Men in white lab coats could be seen in the background. All eyes zeroed in on the picture of a man spiral kicking another man but the thing that drew their eyes was the missing arm.

Jemma was reading quickly over the information attached and then reading aloud. "Subject 12 is showing great results in accordance to the serum and strength and agility have greatly improved. Still showing signs of resistance against instruction..." Jemma sighed knowing that meant Faustus "...but is slowly complying. Recommending subject for project BL."

"Is that Bucky they are talking about?" Steve asked looking over Jemma's shoulder.

Natasha nodded, "I also found out what operation BL is." Jemma followed along with her counterparts as a stoic looking Natasha led them over to two doors. She opened one of them before turning to Steve. "I am not sure if you should see this Steve."

Said super soldier only shook his head. "I can handle it Nat, I have to know what happened to him."

Nodding, Natasha stepped away from the entrance and let Steve and Jemma walk in. Jemma immediately gasped at the sight and felt tears sting at the back of her eye lids.

The room was also huge and had obviously also been trashed and scoured but there was no mistaking the harsh truth of the clamps, scissors, scalpels and blood stains that revealed a horrifying surgery room.

Benches were lined up, identical to the one outside with the leather restraints. Each one with the identical BL logos printed in black on the edge.

"It stands for bionic limb." Jemma rushed over to the open folder on one of the broken chairs ignoring the biggest horrifying thing in the room.

Littering the floor, stacked against the walls and hanging from the ceiling were limbs of every shape and size. Arms with clawed hands, legs with small spikes protruding from the edges, an array of horrifying metal limbs were lying around the room. Some seemed more simplistic and crude, others were complex and defined.

All were in different stages of completion and Jemma could just imagine men and women strapped to tables as metal limbs were attached to them without anesthetic. A vision of Mike Peterson came unbidden to her mind, the pain and suffering he had went through for that leg. The leg that made him Deathlok and that had transformed him forever.

Jemma felt sick as she picked up the file and stared down at the pictures that confirmed her sick imaginings. Frozen in the old black and white photos were men and women, ones with missing extremities, ones with gnarled and twisted flesh, they were having these limbs attached to them by the same expressionless men in white lab coats.

She quickly read through the information before slamming the folder down and glowering at the torn flag hung on the opposite wall. It was similar to the soviet flag but instead of the well known hammer and sickle the simple golden star had been enlarged and was plastered in the middle, signifying the communist party. It had been torn and the symbol of Hydra had been painted over the top. It seemed that Hydra had come to take whatever they could find from the soviet lab.

Jemma had a sick feeling in the back of her mind, so many empty rooms, so many participants and only one winter soldier. What happened to the rest? What else had Hydra taken? And what were they planning?

Jemma remembered why they were here and looked back at Steve. He was simply standing there looking at the room, no expression, no emotion in his eyes.

Jemma then remembered the other door and the other main two questions Steve wanted answers to. How was Barnes still alive and seemingly young? And where was he now?

Jemma strode quickly out of the horrifying room and went to the other door, this one was slightly ajar and Jemma felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge as she swung it open with a loud creak. The air was sucked out of her by what she saw. So that was how he was still alive.

* * *

 **Please any idea or suggestions are welcome and I love any reviews I get. I read every single one and they help to continue on.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the reviews guys!**

* * *

Steve looked at the arms, legs, hands and feet, the metal glinting despite the dust covered room.

Images flashed into his mind, people, soldiers, men and women who had sustained injury all lying on benches. Bucky held down by leather straps as a faceless man in a lab coat tries to attach the metal arm to his person. Bucky screams in agony and is soon joined by yells from all around.

Screams of pain and torture filled this room Steve thought as he ran his hand over one of the benches. Minds are altered and bodies changed, a horde of brainwashed, trained and enhanced assassins, tools for the Russian government and then in to the hands of Hydra.

Steve couldn't bear to look at the room anymore and as he turned to Natasha he realised that Jemma was no longer with them. His eyes desperately searched. Dammit! He hadn't meant to let the girl out of his sight after the last scare with the cliff. Natasha simply walked out with a role of her eyes.

All three followed the sound of a gasp that came from the open door next to them. Steve rushed in to see not Jemma but a large tube glass tank that was smashed littering the floor with debris. The jagged pieces glinting on the floor sprayed around the room. Steve glanced up to find the horrifying image of Jemma's legs stuck up in the air as the bottom half of her was swallowed up by the top of the machine.

"Agent Simmons?" Natasha enquired walking closer to stare up at the waving legs. Soon a wide eyed head with a nest of disgruntled hair popped up.

"Miss Romanoff!" Jemma smiled as she clutched the edge of the machine before jumping lightly down. She looked up with a smile.

"Isn't it incredible? This is years ahead of its time, to think they had this kind of sophisticated technology, it is absolutely baffling! The machine is of the highest quality, oh how I wish I had a sample of the cryoprotectants. They managed to minimize enzymatic or chemical activity that could damage the human body through the sub zero temperatures. I mean it is absolutely fascinating that he could have survived as long as he did without any damage, I mean he is obviously in top physical condition. This is a breakthrough!"

Steve watched as the young scientist had even taken the arm away from her injured side to wave it with her other in excitement as she proceeded to waffle off into a language no one else understood. She then began to circle the large tube and fiddle with some of the piping attached to it.

"I mean it just makes so much sense. Oh how I wish Fitz could see this, he will probably have a heart attack when I tell him, he will get that cute little amazed look on his face."

Steve frowned at the mention of the name. Who was he? Her lab partner if he remembered her file correctly. Cute?

"What exactly is it Simmons?" Natasha stopped the biochemist from blabbering anymore.

"Oh" Jemma looked slightly embarrassed as she realized that they probably didn't understand what she was saying. "Well it is a cryogenic freezer to be sure, although...well I don't know what you would call one of this size! A chamber maybe?"

Jemma looked at Natasha's impatient glare that reminded her scarily of May's and cleared her throat. "Anyway that is beside the point, scientists have often used cryopreservation to freeze certain substances, but never a human before-"

"Wait human?" Steve had a feeling he knew where this was going.

Jemma's tone slightly softened as she turned to face the super soldier. "Yes a freezer this size...well I would only imagine that that is what it was used for. It would explain why Mr Barnes has lived so long." Jemma took a large breath. "They would have frozen him between missions, only let him out when they needed an assassin, it would explain all the sightings over the years."

So that was how Bucky was still alive! Steve now saw all the pieces fitting together, why Bucky was the way he was, how he was the way he was...now only one question remained. Where was his friend now? Steve was about to ask this very question aloud when a tremendous grumble was heard and the whole room began to shake.

"The storm is getting worse, must leave now!" Alyona yelled over the noise gesturing back to the entrance. All three scrambled for the door way. Jemma stuffed some files into her bag as she ran, the three ahead of her getting further away as they were much quicker than she was.

Jemma stumbled as another large rumble shook the mountain and the lights on the ceiling swayed back and forth. She looked to the side to see a clipboard lying on the ground, she went to pick it up but yells from the others to hurry up stopped her. The image on the back was ingrained into her brain however as she stood to keep running. The red X in its distinctive style plastered on the back. Jemma didn't have time to ponder over it as the ground shook more and she pushed herself to get towards the entrance.

Steve rather wished he had stayed inside as the second they stepped out he felt he would almost be blown off the mountain. The wind was a deafening roar and snow fell heavily and fast, making his vision nothing but white. Natasha and Alyona soon joined him.

Alyona said something in Russian he couldn't make out but Natasha nodded her head in agreement. Jemma burst through after them and Alyona had to grab her arm before she blew away. All four looked down the side of the mountain to what was left of the track.

"I called back up once I heard there was going to be a storm, they should be down near the bottom waiting, we just need to get down." Natasha managed over the wind. Jemma looked with trepidation where the track had once stood, now it was just a blanket of white.

Natasha looked at Jemma's face as it turned as white as the snow around them. She turned to Steve and Alyona. "Do you two think you can make it down?" She yelled taking off her pack.

Steve looked at Alyona who nodded then back at Natasha before glancing at Jemma. "Yes, but what about you and Dr Simmons?"

Natasha simply gave back a devilish smile. "We will meet you down there, but I need to borrow your shield" The wind had really picked up and Natasha had to practically scream to be heard. Steve seemed to hesitate but willingly handed over his prized weapon to the red head.

"I hope you know what you are doing Natasha!"

"Hurry up, you guys, you need to go as fast as you can. Agent Simmons and I will be right behind you."

Steve seemed to pause once more as he looked at the two women. He stared at a frightened looking Jemma before shaking his head and beginning his decent, he consoled himself that Natasha knew what she was doing and wouldn't let anything happen to the young scientist.

Steve watched as Alyona with her long legs like his began to hurry her way down. Steve followed suit and picked up speed, they needed to get off this mountain before the storm got too much worse.

Meanwhile Jemma was watching in fascination as their two companions disappeared from view at a good speed.

"Why aren't we going with them?" Jemma turned to the red head who was up against the mountain side sheltered slightly from the wind so she wouldn't have to yell.

"They have longer legs than ours and they are both very strong, they will manage not to get lost in the snow. Both you and I agent Simmons are a bit more vertically challenged and would find it a struggle to make it down, especially with your injury."

"How did you know-"

"Doesn't matter."

"Wait." Jemma gripped her side and looked at the redhead as she grappled through her bag. "Doesn't that make all the more reason for us to get going if we are slow, The others will be waiting down there for ages for us."

Natasha tossed her pack off to the side and grabbed the Captain's shield and placed it on the ground upside down. Jemma figured it out and immediately began to protest. "No no no no no no."

"Agent Simmons Steve said he regretted bringing you along, said you were basically a liability." Natasha looked with hard eyes as Jemma slumped slightly. "I don't believe he was correct, but I need you to prove it to me right now."

Natasha hopped on the back edge of the shield and waited for the young scientist to sit in front of her. Jemma gulped but slid her pack off, stuffed the folders into her jacket and went and sat in front of the scary Black Widow.

Jemma almost squeaked as two arms snaked around her to pull her back into Natasha's chest. "We have to fit" was her only explanation. So Jemma crossed her legs and gripped the edges of the shield tightly while Natasha removed her arms and did the same, tucking her legs around Simmons so they both just fit on the makeshift sled.

Jemma had the weird thought that this was not what Captain America must have thought when he passed his prized shield over to Natasha. As Jemma felt the leather arm straps dig into her bottom she realized that Natasha had scooted them out to the edge with her hands.

As the shield tilted over the edge Jemma could only hope that this wasn't how she died, sliding down a mountain in a snow storm on Captain America's shield with a deadly assassin wrapped around her.

Soon the air was rushing past and Jemma could hardly see, the wind whipped at her hair and she hoped that it didn't hit her passenger behind too much.

Jemma saw the trunk of a tree fast approaching and she felt a scream ripping out of her lungs as they were heading right for it. She felt Natasha squeezed her right arm and she immediately knew what she meant. Both women leaned far to the right and the shield followed and they just barely missed the tree.

Jemma almost took a breath of relief but it was sucked back in as she realised more trees and rocks jutting out of the snow were fast approaching. Jemma relied on Natasha as she would feel her leaning one way or another and she would follow. They almost didn't miss one large rock and Jemma found herself leaning so far to the side she was worried they were going to tip.

Steve on the other hand was making great progress, he was almost at the bottom and he could see the fuzzy outline of a quin jet in the distance. He checked behind him and saw that Alyona was not far behind; he hoped that Natasha and Dr Simmons were okay. He wondered what Natasha was planning. As if to answer his question he heard a scream. He squinted through the harsh snow to see what he thought looked like Jemma and Natasha shooting down the mountain in…Steve's eyes grew wide, was that his shield?

Jemma had had just about enough of this bumpy ride and the snow smacking into her face was making her very irritable. They had at least made it most of the way down and they were close to where they were getting 'picked up.' Jemma almost smiled at that until she saw the large rock jutting out of the ground.

They had no time to avoid it, it was long and flat and seemed to almost create a sort of ramp. A ramp? Oh no. Jemma felt her eyes could not get any bigger as the shield rocketed up the large rock and sent her, Natasha and the shield flying into the air. Jemma felt the legs around her disappear as well as the metal pressed against her hind quarters as she realised they all began to fly separately. Jemma felt the shock make her black out.

Jemma thought she must be dead, she felt icy cold and her head was spinning and an evil smirk was right in her face. Ha? The devil? Wow I thought I had I been a rather good person Jemma thought as she tried to get her bearings, ignoring the fact that she didn't even believe in heaven or hell.

As her vision cleared she realised the icy feeling was simply the snow covering half of her body and as she looked up she was even more shocked of who was there than if the devil with a pitch fork had been standing in front of her. Although, Jemma mused looking up at the mischievous smile on the person standing above her, she wasn't far off.

"Wow Jemma I didn't realise your secret mission was bobsledding with Captain America and the Black Widow."

Jemma felt her voice croak as she struggled to sit up. "What are you doing here Skye?"

 **Woohoo new chapter! Who can guess what the X Jemma saw means? Have been doing a lot of comic research and am having a blast incorporating it into my story. Our heroes may have to talk to someone else...it is a surprise and some may like it, others not. Pleas review, loving the feedback!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry sorry sorry, been busy with tests at school. Am back and raring to go, let me know what you think of this new chapter.**

* * *

Jemma looked up at the massive mountain that had taken them so long to climb up and yet had taken them but minutes to come down. Admittedly, she thought as she squinted her eyes against the howling wind, she had in fact sled down on the most famous shield in history. Jemma watched as Natasha trudged over seemingly unaffected by the fall carrying the offending disk of vibranium.

"If we want to get out of this storm we need to go now!" Jemma turned to just make out the yelling figure of the Captain as he and Alyona battled their way over.

Jemma leant on Skye as she hobbled over to the open door of the quin jet. Soon everyone made it into the aircraft and Jemma could finally hear properly as the door closed shutting out the now deafening storm.

"Was surprised to get your signal for help Natasha, didn't think you would need backup." Jemma's head swivelled to see a grinning Sam sitting in the pilot's seat. Natasha quickly moved across the room and hit Sam in the head nice and hard with the edge of the still clutched shield.

"You brought Skye?" she growled.

"Ouch!" Sam glared right back whilst rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to bring her! You told me she was my responsibility and when she found out I was leaving she begged to come with. Sheesh Natasha did you really have to hit me so hard?"

"Natasha is right Sam, it wasn't your call." Steve looked over at Skye who was holding up a still dizzy Simmons. "It doesn't matter now though, I trust Skye and the main thing is that we get out of here and regroup. By the way Nat I want to talk to you about that stunt back there." Natasha simply stared back without expression before handing back the scraped shield.

"Are you okay?" Skye looked down at the weary scientist. Jemma simply nodded and let Skye lead her over to a seat on the side to strap in as Sam started the engines to lift off.

"Did Sam fill you in?" Jemma asked hoarsely as she slumped back in her seat as she felt the craft lift off the ground.

"Yeah he did. Jemma what the hell? I mean I knew AC had a secret assignment for you but this is crazy! I mean sure he sent you into Hydra but I can't believe now he has you trying to find a deadly assassin, if Fitz found out he would have a fit."

Jemma felt her knuckles tighten on her belts crisscrossing over her chest as she glanced over at an upset looking Captain Rogers as he stood having a hushed conversation with the Black Widow. It didn't surprise her that they didn't strap in as the quin jet took off.

"He is Mr Rogers' old friend, don't you think he deserves to find and help maybe the only person of his past life left?"

Skye's eyes softened as she looked at her friend. "I do but..." Skye looked the other way. "I did some research too, looked up everything I could find on this Winter Soldier."

Jemma nudged the normally bubbly girl to continue, Skye looked back at her. "He's a ghost story Jemma, you guys are following someone who has no trail, no proper identity, almost a myth. I don't doubt that he is real, but Jemma I don't know if you can really find him" Skye sighed "and if what I have heard is true, you may not want to."

Jemma knew Skye was only looking out for her, only being the voice of reason, which for Skye was a rare occurrence. Jemma saw Steve in the corner of her eye and felt her chest tighten. "I know Skye, but I need to try."

Jemma unzipped her jacket and reached for the files stuffed inside. "I think there may be something deeper to all this than just an assassin Winter Soldier stolen from a soviet group."

"What do you mean?"

Jemma got out a pen and started to draw on the cover of one of the files, she then handed it to the computer hacker turned superhero.

"An X?"

"I saw it inside the soviet compound, on a file that looked different to the rest."

"Wanda?" Skye's eyes widened slightly as she whispered the name.

"What?"

"Wanda, you know how she's a.." Skye proceeded to make indistinguishable hand gestures.

"A mutant? You don't think it has to do with the X gene do you, or the X-men?" Jemma felt her eyes go wide.

"No but she did mention about a project."

"What type of project?"

"I don't know, but I remember it having an X." Skye put her hand on Jemma's shoulder. "Leave this with me, I will look more into it when we get back."

Jemma let out a breath and tried to stop her spinning head. It had been a long day, her ribs were still sore, her face felt numb from the snow and her brain was whirling with too many thoughts. She looked over at her friend and put on a small smile "By the way, how was training? Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

Skye looked up with the mischievous twinkle back in her eyes. "Well actually-"

On the other side of the aircraft, "What was that?"

"What did you think I was going to do when I asked for your shield?"

Steve glared at the expressionless redhead. "I don't know but sliding down a mountain in a snow storm on it was not what I had thought, what if either of you had been hurt?"

"No what you mean is what if Agent Simmons had of gotten hurt. Steve you said she couldn't handle herself but I think she proved you very wrong stop being so damn protective and face why you were really so worried."

"Stop it right there Natasha, I know where you are going and I really wish you wouldn't." Steve whispered heatedly.

"What is it your stupid pride? Sense of responsibility? It can't possibly be your age can it?" Natasha pushed as she drew closer to the angry looking super soldier.

Steve thought about her words, all were true, but what was prominent was that he was damaged. He should have been left in that ice, he never wished to be brought back. He was a man from a different age and he wasn't sure he was capable of what Natasha was implying. His hand instinctively reached into his pocket to grip the cool metal of his compass.

"We are here on a mission Romanoff, I would like to remind you not to meddle in others' affairs."

"Steve would you just-" Natasha looked about to argue further but she was cut off by a loud Jemma Simmons.

"A tiny man?" Both the super soldier and the spy turned to look at the scene across from them. Skye was laughing manically as Jemma stared wide eyed at a choking Sam, with the silent Alyona standing silently with a small smirk on her face.

"He did not beat me up!" Sam was frantically looking over his shoulder to glare at Skye, he glanced over to see Steve watching and frantically looked at the brunette. "You promised Skye!"

"Yeah yeah don't tell the great Captain America." Skye looked over to see she now had the said Captain's attention. "I can't help it Sam, you, the always bragging Falcon, got your butt kicked by a guy who calls himself Ant-Man!" She then burst into more hysterical giggles.

Steve watched as he looked forlornly at the laughing woman before turning his attention to him. "He was really strong! And he could just grow and shrink at will! He got into my wings and…" He trailed off. Steve couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his good friend grasp at straws to fix his ego.

"I am sure I will see it all in the report once we get back."

* * *

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for a very very late update. Have not given up on this story I promise.**

* * *

Steve felt his muscles strain as he pushed the heavy weights up with his legs, "23, 24…25" Steve finished his set and let his body right itself on the machine, grabbing a towel to wipe away the thin layer of sweat forming on his skin. Steve sighed as he then reaching for his bottle of water began to reflect on the last few days, it had been discovered by the super soldier that Natasha had Sam on call and had him fly the quin jet out as soon as they decided to go up to the mountain without a word to him about it, the decision risked leaks in the team as well as the constant danger of Russian interference with an unauthorised air craft in their air space, alas to say he wasn't at all impressed with the order given by the secretive redhead. The mission hadn't felt like a complete loss when Skye had taken him aside to tell him that she thought Jemma and her might have a lead and that they'd need the base computers to do more research. So against Steve's better judgment they returned home after picking up two hydra prisoners and letting Alyona back to keep them updated to any changes near the mountain.

Steve heard the swish of the gym doors and turned his head to see Sam walk in with a report on one of the missions being undertaken by Vision on the south of Ukraine. Steve welcomed the distraction as he held out his arm for the offending report and quickly began to flick through.

"Update on everyone?"

Sam sighed and tinkered with a rowing machine. "Vision is on his way back, Natasha is currently looking over reported sightings of our stray doctor Banner, May won't tell me but I THINK she's just spying on the girls for Coulson but I wouldn't put it past her to be spying on us for Coulson as well-"

Steve felt himself frown at that as he glanced up at Sam while turning another page of the report.

"-Thor is still in Asguard as far as we know, Tony is currently holed up in Barbados as far as I can tell although I could not for the life of me figure out why, its assumed by the media to be a holiday but knowing Stark it's probably something else entirely." Sam shook his head as looked to the ceiling. "Skye has been buried away in her computers with Jemma over her shoulder…they're currently waiting for Wanda to get back from recon last I heard."

Steve looked up from the statistics on possible terrorist growth rates before him. "What do they want from Wanda?"

Sam just shrugged, "I don't know, girl's slumber party?"

Steve ignored the grinning man to stare at the doors trying to decide if he should pay the hacker and scientist a visit after his workout.

* * *

At the other side of the base –

"A base?"

"I don't know the details"

"Well who would know the details?"

"…I can't say"

Wanda looked uncomfortable as she turned her head away from Skye to look out one of the windows.

"Come on this is important!" Skye looked exasperated as she once again paced back to her chair to try and sit only to get back up and pace around Wanda who was doing her best to not make eye contact.

"You're not even telling me how you saw the symbol and why you need the information!" Wanda snapped back finally sick of the hacker's constant questioning.

"I told you its confi-" before Skye could finish her frustrated sentence Jemma cut in.

"I'm really sorry we can't tell you, but I promise it's really important and we wouldn't ask you if we didn't think it was crucial to our mission. Please Wanda, who can we talk to?" Jemma used her calm voice to try and portray her absolute urgency in needing this information.

Wanda looked unconvinced and unwilling to speak but as she saw the pleading look on the scientist's face and Skye's mouth begin to open surely with another tirade of arguments and questions at the ready Wanda felt her shoulders slouch. "There's only one person I know of that would have the information you're asking for and he won't want to talk, you won't get him to even if you find him."

* * *

Steve was leaning over an old black and white photo displayed on the screen in a fresh pair of clothes when the computer announced the admittance of agents Simmons and Agent Skye followed by the door sliding open. Nimble fingers quickly minimised the photo and brought up a map of the mountain compound that Jemma had made before the two agents stepped inside. "Miss Skye, Miss Simmons" The Captain nodded his head at them each as they made their way towards him.

"We have good news and bad news" Jemma said with a nervous smile. He felt himself flinch at her voice, he hadn't really seen her since they got back from Russia, much less talked. He had told both of them to come to him when they had something, he'd avoided the biochemist otherwise, trying his best to avoid the guilt he felt the woman stir within him as well as the dull ache in his gut.

"Go on" he said turning to them to give them his full attention after checking the room was void of listening ears.

"The good news is we have a lead, a destination to find somebody with the information we need. That X I found, I was right that it stood for something bigger. Wanda said it's in the design of something called project X that was undertaken years ago in a facility in Canada and it is surely linked to Buckey."

Steve nodded his head as Dr Simmon's accent punctuated the hopefulness of what they'd found out. "Sounds like we have our next mission, the bad news?" Before Jemma could answer Skye bouncing on her heels breathed in excitedly.

"Have you ever heard of the mutant known as the Wolverine?!"

* * *

 **Please please please review, it was only because of reviews that I haven't given up on this. I know this was only a short chapter. Things you like, theories, things you want, anything, please write me a message to help me to keep writing this.**


End file.
